PARIS, France - Nigeria has reached an agreement with its neighbours to combat the militant group Boko Haram.

During a summit in Paris on Saturday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and counterparts from other African nations, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, agreed on a plan to route Boko Haram with coordinated surveillance and intelligence gathering.

The president of Chad, Idriss Deby said after the meeting that African nations were determined to tackle the situation head on to launch a total war on Boko Haram.

Westen nations, including Britain, France and the United States also promised to become involved in helping break up the terror group and aid in the rescue of abducted schoolgirls.

On April 14th, Boko Haram abducted 276 students from their secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok.

While 53 of the girls managed to escape, 223 are still being held in an unknown location.

Security forces in Nigeria have been running search and rescue operation to free the girls but have been hampered by poor intelligence work and misinformation.

The Nigerian government has been under pressure since the kidnapping to secure the release of the schoolchildren.

Another ministerial meeting will be held in London next month to examine the measures taken to rescue them.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has warned that Boko Haram is no longer acting as a local terror group but has joined with al-Qaeda.

He said the threat from the terror group meant there would be more deadly gun and bomb attacks in the future.

Boko Haram has said its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government and to stop all aspects of Western education in the country.